2016 Chevrolet Volt Spy Photos: Make or Break Time

Sleeker, cheaper, and available in multiple strengths.

What It Is: Chevy’s next Volt, wrapped in squiggle-design contact paper and fitted with placeholder lighting elements and sheetmetal. While the camo is heavy with this one, new model seems to be sleeker, lower-slung, and wedgier than the current Volt. LED DRLs and numerous small air intakes are visible up front. Out back, expect a more contoured trunklid with an integrated spoiler optimized to reduce drag. While we don’t yet know the final aesthetics of the car, we don’t expect the polarizing blacked-out surround for the side windows to carry over. Speaking of windows, the windowline now kicks up aft of the rear door, although it’s unlikely that it will frame an actual piece of glass there given the space.

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Why It Matters: This will be GM’s second attempt to incite a green-leaning stampede to Chevy showrooms, as the first Volt—despite its advanced tech and pleasing driving experience—hasn’t set the market on fire. The fact that it likely will be offered in two strengths, one starting at about $30K before any incentives, should help. Pessimists must bear in mind that the Prius didn’t really find success until its second generation, but there’s no doubt that GM must get this Volt right lest the car and the company be ridiculed forever as eco-failures.

Platform: While GM is officially mum on the topic of platform and powertrains, the Volt likely will switch from the global Delta II platform that underpins the Chevy Cruze to its own platform. This could allow the new model to seat five instead of the current four, as well as sprout additional variants and/or body styles to let GM leverage the technology across more market segments, just as Toyota has done by offering multiple Prius models.

Powertrain: As before, the Volt will remain a hybrid with a small range-extending engine, although it’s likely that the next version will be offered with two different battery capacities, the larger of which could offer an electric-only range of 50 to 60 miles, up from the EPA-estimated 38 miles of the current model. As for the range extender, expect it to be plucked from GM’s new family of fuel-efficient three- and four-cylinder engines.

Estimated Arrival and Price: The 2016 Volt could debut as soon as this November at the Los Angeles auto show, but the Detroit auto show in January makes the most sense to us. (The original Volt concept appeared at Detroit in 2007.) Sales should commence by the late summer or early fall of 2015. Base prices should drop to around $30K for the entry-level model and perhaps near $40K for the more potent version.